Sale Sharks vs London Welsh match report: Tom Arscott piles on the pain for Welsh
Sale 46 London Welsh 8: Tries for Cobilas, Brady and McLean along with an Arscott hat-trick seals comfortable win
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Your support makes all the difference.At least the Exiles are moving in the right direction. After two 50-point trouncings, the Aviva Premiership new boys prevented Sale from chalking up a half-century that many sides will see as there for the taking.
Sale still yielded a bumper crop of six tries, wing Tom Arscott completing a hat-trick during a hectic finale. It was their first win of the season and they were on the front foot from the off, touching down within three minutes through the clinical Arscott.
Olly Barkley reduced the arrears with a penalty, but the Sharks soon laid siege to the Exiles’ line and Andrei Ostrikov forced his way over.
Cipriani landed the extras and, with the Sharks dominating territory and possession, he extended the lead to 15-3 by the break after Sale old boy Dean Schofield had been sent to the sin-bin.
A powerful Sale scrum resulted in a further Cipriani penalty before the visitors showed some fight, deservedly breaking through after 57 minutes when Nic Reynolds dotted down.
But the Sharks lifted the intensity and ran away with it, Arscott crossing for his second and third tries either side of Tom Brady’s bonus point-clinching score. McLean completed the rout.
Exiles coach Justin Burnell blamed “individual errors” for their capitulation, having been just 10 points down with 15 minutes to go.
“It was the same old story -people dropping off,” he said.
“It’s execution, it’s skill and it’s the individual errors - that was the biggest disappointment. At this level, you make a mistake and you will be penalised.”
Line-ups:
Sale Sharks: L McLean; T Brady, W Addison, J Leota, T Arscott; D Cipriani, C Cusiter (W Cliff); R Harrison (A Ostrikov), S Mamukashvili, V Cobilas; J Mills (A de Marchi), M Paterson, M Lund (V Fahiki 70), D Seymour, M Easter.
London Welsh: S Jewell; S Stegmann, N Reynolds, T Molenaar, N Scott; O Barkley (capt), P Weepu; R Reeves, K Britton, T Vea, D Schofield, J Down, P Browne, R Thorpe, L McCaffrey.
Referee: Andrew Small (RFU).
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